trevoromgh Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 When you are in a hurry and just want a car wash that won't take 30-60 minutes to do I usually opt for a drive through automatic car wash but here in Chiang Mai I can't say I've ever seen one has anyone else please? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trujillo Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Here is your business opportunity. Love the super powerful vacuum cleaners they have too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cardinalblue Posted December 18, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 18, 2020 So why would a country who has ample cheap labor invest in automated technology? think how they pick up your garbage with a driver and 8 guys hanging off the back of an open garbage truck and you have your answer.... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maha Sarakham Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Yeah, my wife had thought about opening one of these in Bangkok with touchless technology for hi-so folks driving Benz and it just didn't make business sense with such cheap labor. The whole car wash, wax, and vacuum costs absolutely nothing in Thailand compared to Western countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Monday Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 10 men hanging off the top of the tunnel like animal help on The Flintstones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChakaKhan Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Yep though only open 7 days once a year.....aka Songkran ???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdd Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Never seen one in Chiang Mai. For people who don't want to wait just for the car, there are the car washs at places like Big C, or Central, so it gets done while shopping, but this costs quite a premium. Some gyms have a car wash close by, without the premium pricing, so you could spend the time exercising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy from Kent Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 9 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said: costs absolutely nothing in Thailand compared to Western countries. How much is nothing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maha Sarakham Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 1 hour ago, Andy from Kent said: How much is nothing? 180 baht for the full meal deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JingerBen Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 When Makro [Nong Prateep] first opened back in the '80s there was a drive-thru car wash out in the parking lot near the super highway. It seemed to be doing well enough but disappeared after a few years for whatever reason. Since then I never saw another one in Chiang Mai. Any old timers remember that? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy from Kent Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 4 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said: 180 baht for the full meal deal Good price. Is that in the village? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill97 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 20 minutes ago, Andy from Kent said: Good price. Is that in the village? 120 B city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMHomeboy78 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 10 hours ago, JingerBen said: When Makro [Nong Prateep] first opened back in the '80s there was a drive-thru car wash out in the parking lot near the super highway. It seemed to be doing well enough but disappeared after a few years for whatever reason. Since then I never saw another one in Chiang Mai. Any old timers remember that? Well remembered. It was a great favorite of our two daughters and their little friends back in the day. When the big rotary brushes started closing in with a deluge of sudsy water the kids would scream with delighted terror. Other than that, I wasn't sorry to see it go. The hand car washes are easier on your vehicle. The problem is finding a good one. My regular place in Nong Hoi became an upscale housing project. Now I'm looking for one as good and almost as cheap. At 120 baht (plus tip) it was hard to beat considering how quickly and how well they cleaned your car inside and out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elektrified Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 54 minutes ago, CMHomeboy78 said: Well remembered. It was a great favorite of our two daughters and their little friends back in the day. When the big rotary brushes started closing in with a deluge of sudsy water the kids would scream with delighted terror. Other than that, I wasn't sorry to see it go. The hand car washes are easier on your vehicle. The problem is finding a good one. My regular place in Nong Hoi became an upscale housing project. Now I'm looking for one as good and almost as cheap. At 120 baht (plus tip) it was hard to beat considering how quickly and how well they cleaned your car inside and out. 120? It was 99 Baht until the day it closed. Maybe you were over-charged? That was the place I always went to. One day it was gone and it seemed like they built the housing project overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacessit Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 150 baht at the station opposite the Riverside condo in Nong Hoi, inside and out. Have a good cup of coffee in the Fuel coffee shop right next to the carwash, usually 30 minutes to one hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMHomeboy78 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 17 minutes ago, elektrified said: 120? It was 99 Baht until the day it closed. Maybe you were over-charged? That was the place I always went to. One day it was gone and it seemed like they built the housing project overnight. Maybe I got the rah-kah farang. But it always seemed inexpensive because they cleaned the inside as well as washing the outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flare Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 A friend owned a drive-thru car wash in New York- it was a maintenance nightmare, and he was fortunate to be able to do many of the repairs himself as he was mechanically skilled, though that didn't save him anything on replacement parts. He made decent money, but the operating expenses were huge. It was a happy day for him when he finally sold it. I could see an automated car wash being an even bigger hassle here. With labor being so cheap and easily replaceable, I'm not surprised that automated places are very few and far between in LOS- they'd likely have to charge more than the average place charges now to turn a profit, which wouldn't help business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I think the answer the OP was looking for is no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevoromgh Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 6 minutes ago, Thailand said: I think the answer the OP was looking for is no. That was indeed the conclusion I came to from the replies. Thanks folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingdongrb Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/20/2020 at 6:25 AM, flare said: A friend owned a drive-thru car wash in New York- it was a maintenance nightmare, and he was fortunate to be able to do many of the repairs himself as he was mechanically skilled, though that didn't save him anything on replacement parts. He made decent money, but the operating expenses were huge. It was a happy day for him when he finally sold it. I could see an automated car wash being an even bigger hassle here. With labor being so cheap and easily replaceable, I'm not surprised that automated places are very few and far between in LOS- they'd likely have to charge more than the average place charges now to turn a profit, which wouldn't help business. As a teenager and obtaining my driver's license I was informed by my friends, who also had their license about how to get a free car wash at the facility just on the outskirts of our small town. Soon there after I found out that many teens had the 'magic' key to the car wash stashed in the ashtray compartment of their car. The 'magic' key: A tab from a soda can (that was back in the days before the tabs were always attached to the cans) wrapped in a piece of electrical tape. One would cut about 16 inches of electrical tape, take and place the can tab in the middle (ring of the tab remove), then fold the tape over so that both sticky sides connected. To operate the wash place the tab end of the tape into the coin dispenser, turn the knob to activate the wash and then release it. The tab would hit the activation button and the electrical tape would allow the 'magic' key to turn and stretch through the coin mechanism then be free to come back out. NOTE: This was not for an auto car wash but rather for one of those DYI ones which at that time only cost a quarter (25 cents, for non-Americans). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillageIdiot Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) On 12/20/2020 at 7:17 AM, Thailand said: I think the answer the OP was looking for is no. I think so too... an emphatic no. Automated car washes don't seem to exist in Chiang Mai at present. But in topics like this a simple "no" is seldom given. More often there are diversions and byways, bells and whistles and whirligigs to amuse and inform you. Edited December 21, 2020 by VillageIdiot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingdongrb Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 13 hours ago, VillageIdiot said: I think so too... an emphatic no. How about, 'none that I know of'....... ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumak Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/20/2020 at 7:25 AM, trevoromgh said: That was indeed the conclusion I came to from the replies. Thanks folks. Just wait till pollution hits full strength. You can get a free car wash by driving under the water spraying machines installed in various areas . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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